Museum Technicians and Conservators in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,589
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$4,761
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,229
Louisiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Louisiana — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$32,350
Kept after tax
$27,589
Worth in national money
$31,229
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays this job a middle wage of $32,350, 45 of 45 states and about 37.11% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Louisiana this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 425. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $32,350 you keep $27,589, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,229 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,430, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Louisiana's $32,350 median for museum technicians and conservators places it 45 of 45 states, about 37.11% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Louisiana reports, museum technicians and conservators ranks 425 of 484, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for museum technicians and conservators on $32,350 is $27,589. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,229 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $37,430 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,640 |
| This salary | $32,350 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Louisiana | $27,589 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,173 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,236 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $31,623 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,705 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of museum technicians and conservators in Louisiana earn under $32,350 and half over. The published range runs $30,230 at the tenth percentile to $52,640 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $27,589 take-home in Louisiana comes from $32,350. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 425 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,229 uses one figure for the whole of Louisiana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 425.
- Figures are distribution medians for museum technicians and conservators in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,230 to $52,640; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $27,589, from $32,350, assumes a single Louisiana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 425 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,229, worked from $32,350, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Louisiana address, on work sitting at 425 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,430, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,230 at the bottom tenth to $52,640 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $31,229.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $27,589 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Louisiana is $37,430. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,230 to $52,640) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Louisiana rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Louisiana's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $31,229 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $27,589 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Louisiana income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.